Adoration
by BraveTheElements
Summary: First story i've finished in a while. Hopefully the others will follow suit! T for language/ situations, Based on a true story.
1. Part 1

**A/N: Based on true events. Adoration has nothing to do with any of my series; if you've noticed i'm kinda shying away form them as of right now. Enjoy my friends.

* * *

**

Adoration

"It's so obvious when I think of the two of you. It's meant to be, one day you're going to get married. Oh damn, don't tell her I said that!"

"Why would I?"

"Just don't, she would get mad at me," A night of our twentieth year. It had been a long time since I had talked to Brittney. She and Eleanor went to a different school and I hadn't seen them since Winter break. It was summer now, and I still hadn't communicated with them in a while. I had gone to a completely different school. A small liberal arts college in the middle of nowhere. Honestly, I hadn't seen much of Alvin, Simon and Jeanette either. Alvin stayed on the coast, opting to go to UCLA. Simon and Jeanette were still in California too, but they went to Stanford. Me? Earlham, in the Midwest. I just preferred the small environment more.

"I'm confused," I was talking to Brittney over Skype, "Why would she get mad at you?" There was a long pause.

"She just, yeah. Just what had happened a few years ago. She doesn't want you getting any ideas, unlike me. I don't want her to die alone, Theo!" She laughed and so did I. I don't think that was much of a possibility, but four years ago? What happened four years ago that's still relevant in our lives? Oh, I remember now.

"Wow, you have to be kidding me," She nodded her head, "you're not kidding," I got a text. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket, and Brittney looked at me, perplexed.

"What's she saying?" Eleanor had sent.

I looked back at Brittney, "are you two talking right now? I thought she was up near me right now, in Indianapolis," I was working on campus this summer with a professor, hence why I haven't seen any of my siblings or closest friends.

"She is, we're talking on Facebook," she said with a laugh.

"For how long now?" I asked.

"Since the prank, and I quote, 'man, fuck you!'" She said, as she fell into a full out laugh

* * *

A few minutes before, Eleanor had sent me a text. We had been texting on and off for a while, small updates on each other's lives and things like that.

"Theo, how can I get a guy to stop texting me?" she asked.

"Oh, I have no idea." I responded.

"Well, what would you like to hear? Like what's the best thing to hear in your opinion?"

"I guess the nicest thing would be a lie I'm assuming. Something like, 'hey I don't share your feelings." There was a bit of a pause after that text and I continued to read my book again.

She sent the message to the actual target first. She had been getting texted by some guy she went to school with and she was tired of him bothering her. Brittney text her after that.

"Hey Ellie, how's Indy?"

"It's alright. There's not a lot to do here if you're not twenty one, and especially if you don't know a lot of people," she was there to visit a friend that was in poor health.

"That's shitty," Brittney responded, "Did you finally tell that guy off?"

"Actually yeah. I asked Theo what to do and he had a good response," At this point, I assumed that she was texting the young man who had been bothering her. I started to forget the conversation all together. I continued to read.

"Oh, you know what would be funny?" Brittney said.

"What's that?" Eleanor said.

"If we played a little joke on Theo," Brittney said, "Make him believe he was the guy you were talking about!"

"That's just awful, Brittney," I assumed the conversation went this way. For all I know at this point, she was all for it, "You know he has lingering feelings for me."

"You're delusional. That was so long ago, he's moved on, had different girlfriends. He'll think it was funny; he's also appreciative of a well played prank," she said, _she's so bad at reading men. I know Theodore has moved on,_ Brittney thought, _We're all so much older than we were back then. What's still relevant to us that was relevant four years ago? _

"Yeah, you're right," Eleanor said, _at the very least I hope she's wrong about him. I don't want to hurt him, but I hope she's wrong._

As I sat in my crapped dorm room, reading I got another text. Two Weeks by Grizzly Bear rang in my pocket. It was from Eleanor, about fifteen minutes after the last text.

"Hey Teddy," she never calls me Teddy. I don't let anyone call me Teddy, "I don't share the feelings you have for me, so if you'd stop bothering me that would be nice," My heart sank to the floor. A cold chill swept through my body. I knew she was talking about me. How could she have known I was never completely over her? I felt a pain in my chest. My heart literally broke. I didn't know what to do. How do I respond? Ignorance? Anger? Confession? I opened my phone and started to type, 'If you seriously think that I feel—" Before I could finish, I got another text from her, "Just Kidding!"

I responded, "Man, fuck you!"

* * *

"It was my idea, sorry Theo," Brittney said. It was a terrible thing to do, but I had to face something else now.

"It was well executed, no doubt, but she seriously still thinks I have feelings for her?" I said. A lie, indeed, but I had serious damage control to perform here. She obviously thought it was enough of a problem to think that it would affect our friendship. Regardless of how I actually feel, this needed to be taken care of.

"Yeah, I don't know why. We would joke about what happened four years ago, and I think she still believes that you did."

"Yeah so, alright," I didn't really know what to say. I had made so many mistakes that summer that I didn't really want to go back to them, but they were joking about it? That hurt, unbeknownst to them, I don't like to relive my past mistakes, and every time they talked about it, they relived it. It was an eerie feeling, knowing that people were talking about you, but not knowing the amount or how long it was. I felt a tad violated for whatever reason, "Could you tell her that I simply don't have feelings for her? At this point, I don't think I could get through to her."

Brittney laughed, "Yeah I don't think so either," What exactly did that mean? "sure, I can."

"I just made so many mistakes that summer. You know the emotional state I was in at the time, All the girls had had fooled around with, I, and I can admit this, I never had feelings for any of them. I just didn't feel much of anything. I was numbed. You don't need to tell her all of this by the way."

"Duly noted, and I can understand," She said.

"I simply cannot stress enough that there's nothing between us," I was laying it on thick, and I could see Brittney's demeanor change.

"I understand," she said.

"And if you guys could not talk about what happened all that time ago, that would be nice," I was making too many demands, it was time to diffuse the situation, "There doesn't need to be this in violence! We need to make peace," She laughed and I laughed.

"Totally, there will be peace in our generation," I got a text for Eleanor after that. Brittney saw me look down at my phone, "Oh God, what did she say? I kinda let it slip that I thought you two were going to get married."

"Why did you do that?"

"She wanted to know what we were talking about! Sorry if it's unpleasant!" Brittney signed out. I sighed and looked at my texts.

"I don't know what she's talking about," Eleanor said, _To get Married to Theodore? It never crossed my mind, but I always have had feelings for him. When he's been with other Women, it's just crushed me slowly._

"Why are you mad at her?" I asked.

"I don't know, I just feel uncomfortable talking about marriage," Eleanor responded, _Pretty solid lie there!_

That doesn't really make any sense at all. Who feels uncomfortable talking about marriage? Brittney was right, she is uncomfortable with me, "Look, if you think that I have any lingering feelings for you, please perish the thought," That's a lie, "I was going through a very self destructive time after having my heart broken a few times in a half of a year. I was with a lot of girls that summer, and, like you, I didn't feel anything for them," No, I did feel for you, "I was trying to hurt myself, and I accomplished that. Now, I've moved on," Not true, "It was four years ago, can we please just move on then? Can we be friends with no strings attached?"

Eleanor dropped her cup of coffee in the middle of the street she was crossing as she read the text. She looked back at the crosswalk, which she had been standing in for far too long, re reading the text. A car honked at her and she jumped, and ran off of the street. Someone yelled something at her and she looked down. She was on the verge of tears, _Is it true? Are all the things he said true?_

I got a text back from her, "Yeah, I'm sorry that came up," I didn't really know what to do here. I guess she really didn't have any feelings for me. I felt a tad detached from the world. It wasn't anything new though, I could deal with rejection like a pro at this point. Win a few, lose a lot. The ones you win are hopefully worth it.

"It's fine, It just messed up our friendship for a while," I can't blame her for thinking I'm a creep.

_I can't blame him for hating me, _She thought, "It doesn't matter now."

I'm just sad that she doesn't return my feelings.

_I wish he would have felt the same way about me as I do him.

* * *

_

I went to work the next day. I couldn't really think of my work. I broke a beaker and messed up a trial. Needless to say, my professor wasn't terribly excited. I went out to get dinner in town with a fellow co-worker. Richmond, Indiana isn't exactly the most exciting place. There were a few restaurants, so we went to a local dinner instead. We were the only people there; it was about 9 p.m.

Alison was a sweet girl and I liked to have her around. She had become one of my closest friends this semester. She worked with another professor, and, considering we were a part of a small group of people that were still on campus this summer, we got to see each other an awful lot. It was nice to have a friend here right now. It was far too sleepy of a town for my liking; at least she kept things interesting.

"What's wrong Theo? You seem distracted. Are you alright?" She asked as we were first sitting down for dinner.

"Oh it's nothing," I responded listlessly.

"Please, you know you can't hide anything from me," The server brought out water and gave us the whole schpeal about the diner. We had been there so many times he knew us by name, and he, like most of Richmond, assumed we were together. He left and she put her hand on mine, "What's up?"

"Really, it's nothing. I'm just a bit tired; I was up late last night talking to people," I said.

"Were you talking to Ellie?" She asked.

"Yeah," she moved her hand away from mine and grabbed her water. There was a delay between her actions; it was obvious the water wasn't the reason why she moved. I was always on the fence about her; I never really knew what she was thinking about. I took a drink and said, "What's wrong with you now?"

"Theo, every time you talk to her, you always seem to be in a bad mood the next day? What's the relationship between the two of you?" She asked.

"We're friends," Yeah, we were friends, destined to be best friends forever. The waiter came out and we gave him our orders and he chatted with us for a while. Once he left we lingered in silence and she remembered that she had been probing previously.

"Are you really just friends? Did you two date before or something?" She asked. Why was she so interested?

"No we never have. Why are you so interested in my past?"

"It's just that you act similarly to how I act when one of my exes bothers me. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have probed."

"No don't worry about it," I felt my pants vibrating. I got a text. I touched my phone and it was from Eleanor. I decided to not respond until the end of the dinner.

"I'm sorry Eleanor, I didn't think he would be so adamant," Brittney and Eleanor were talking over the internet, "I could have swore he still liked you, but I guess that wasn't the case."

"Why didn't I take that opportunity when we were younger? Brittney, I liked him then, and he like me, why didn't I do anything?"

"Don't beat yourself up about it. You understood what was going on. He has just been broken up with and he was in no reasonable condition to have a relationship. Waiting was the best option."

"That was the risk I guess. You know this is all your fault," Eleanor said.

"Wait, why?"

"If you hadn't made up some bullshit about me thinking that he still liked me he wouldn't have been so willing to discredit everything he had ever done."

"You don't think that could have been why, do you?" Brittney asked.

"I don't follow."

"He could have been covering things up. He might have been worried about how you felt, then flew off the handle covering things up. Maybe he still does have feelings for you." Brittney said.

"You're crazy. That's not how he is."

"We haven't seen him for a year," Brittney said, "maybe things have changed.

"What if this is true?"

"Then you would have to take the first step."

"Why me?" Eleanor shouted.

"If you want him to open up he would have to know at this point that you feel for him."

"I guess you're right," she got out her phone, "I'll ask him if he wants to talk and I'll update you later."

We finished our dinner; I paid, much to her chagrin. We walked out into the warm summer night and started back to campus.

"Theodore, do you want to hang out some more?" She asked me.

"Sure, what do you want to do?"

"I'm not sure. Want to go back to my apartment for a bit and figure out what to do?"

"Sounds good," I looked at my phone. I still hadn't responded to the text Eleanor had sent me. I looked at it.

"Want to talk tonight?" She had said. I looked at Alison, then back at my phone. We got to her apartment and I responded as she unlocked the door.

"I'm busy tonight. Some other time?" We walked to the couch and sat down. She put on some Justice. It was a bit upbeat for my liking that night but I could get down.

"Theo, you know I worry about you," she got closer, "are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I looked away from her.

"You know you can tell me anything-," I wouldn't let her finish. I leaned in and we started to kiss. I felt another vibration in my pocket. We went on for a bit longer until she felt it too.

"You want to check that really quickly?"

"Yeah, I should," it was from Eleanor. I didn't open the phone and I put it back in my pocket.

"Who was it from?" She asked.

"Oh, nobody… It can wait," I leaned back in and we continued from where we had left off.


	2. Part 2

I left Alison's house at 3 a.m. I didn't have work in the morning, so it didn't really matter if I got to sleep at a reasonable time or not. It was dark out as I crossed into campus and back to my room. My roommate had gone home for the summer, and I was placed in a different area, the graduate dorms. It was a desolate place. Rarely anyone was there, let alone socializing. I went to sleep at four a.m.

"Adam, what's up man?" Upon waking, I called my roommate. He had become my closest friend over the semester. I thought he would know what to do in this situation.

"Theo! How goes it dude? How is the party scene now that I'm gone?"

I laughed, "As lame as you left it. So, I have a dilemma."

"What's that?"

"I got with Alison last night—"

"Finally! Jesus dude, I didn't know if you were going to ever get with her. She wasn't being too cryptic with it, you know?"

"I know, I know, it's just that…"

"I know, you're not that into her, are you?"

"It's not that. I think she's amazing, but it's just that, I'm preoccupied with another girl."

"Theo, what are you going to give up on her?"

"What do you mean? Do you even know who I'm talking about?"

"Of course, Eleanor was her name?" How did he know that? I had never talked about her with him before in a romantic fashion, "The way you talked about her all the time, you couldn't have made it much more obvious, my friend. Now you have a girl that returns your feelings. Requited love, as they call it."

"But—"

"No buts man. Only T and A!" I laughed and he continued, "Just go for it with her, and if it doesn't work out then it doesn't work out."

"I'm still not sure, but you're right. I should still go for it."

"That's my boy, now go and find her. I don't expect any more calls, not unless you get her pregnant. Then you can call me" Adam hung up the phone and I closed mine. I got onto Facebook and Alison was online. I messaged her.

"Hey, want to go out again tonight?"

* * *

Eleanor was still in Indianapolis when she called Alvin. Alvin was staying in L.A. with her and Brittney. Usually, he wouldn't be the first she would go to for advice, but this was a special circumstance. She couldn't get a hold of Brittney, and Alvin was the only one she knew that wouldn't be busy right now.

"Alvin, have you talked to Theodore recently?" Alvin was eating breakfast at home alone while she was eating lunch at the hospital. She talked in hushed tones in the busy hospital.

"Not terribly recently, why are you calling me so early in the morning? She had forgotten the three hour time difference.

"Oh, yeah, that. I guess it's not too important. Sorry, I forgot that we're not on the same time anymore."

Alvin took a drink of his water and put down his utensils, "Ellie, what's on your mind?"

Eleanor sighed. She didn't want to talk to anyone about specifics, let alone Alvin. They weren't particularly close friends; she much rather have talked to Jeanette or Simon first, "I'm not sure if I should tell you."

"Why not? Is it some sort of government conspiracy?" He laughed and she grimaced, but, naturally, he couldn't see it.

"I just want to know something first."

"What's that?" he said as he continued eating nonchalantly.

"Do you know anything about Theo's love, no, personal life?"

"Why do you ask?" He said coyly.

"Please don't play mind games with me right now, it's too early," She was immediately regretting her decision to ask him.

"I don't know, what's in it for me?" he said, smirking.

"Just answer the damn question or not!" she yelled into the phone. People turned around and looked at her for a second, silently, "what the hell," she muttered to herself, "Carry on with your business!" she put on a fake cheery sounding voice.

"Geez, alright, you can be a real ball buster, you know?" He said as he put his plate into the dishwasher, "He's really close with this girl Alison, but I don't know if anything's going on between the two of them. You know Theodore, he has a real talent at being really good friends with girls then not capitalizing."

"I'm going to ignore the idea of capitalizing on a girl—"

Alvin interrupted, "Whoa, I was merely suggestion capitalizing on a good situation. Proceed."

"Alright, well anyway, thanks. Is that all you know?"

"Ellie, he still loves you. He's always loved you," he said seriously, "alright bye!" he laughed as he hung up the phone.

_I hope so,_ she said to herself.

* * *

"Theo! Hey!" Alison ran up to me and gave me a hug from across the quad.

"Hey Allie," I said.

"You've never called me Allie before," she had come up from behind me, and now she was in front of me.

"I'm sorry, is that alright?" I asked. I guess it was a sort of Freudian slip, calling her Allie.

She smiled and hugged me again, "As long as I get to call you Teddy."

I hugged her back, "Of course you can."

Alison and I spent the rest of the evening together, and we made good on our plans. The entire time I was slipping in and out of consciousness. I was torn. I enjoyed being with Alison a lot, but I couldn't help but think about Eleanor. Why do I have to be plagued with this unrequited love? It was screwing me up. I wish I could focus on her, but I can't.

"Theodore?" She asked me.

"Hmm, what?"

"Did you not hear me?"

"Oh I guess not, I'm sorry. What were you saying?"

"I was just asking about how your day went," That kept happening the entire night. I didn't know what else to do. Every time I tried to banish the thought, it would come back in full force.

"It was fine. I talked to Andy and he's doing well," she grimaced. She and Andy weren't in a good place, "but I think the high point is being with you, right now," It felt right, and yet…

"Awww."

"Come on, don't make fun of me!" I said in jest.

She laughed, "I'm just kidding, Teddy," It felt so odd, now she was calling me Teddy. Only my girlfriends of the past have been allowed to call me Teddy. It was a normality for this to be a serious thing, but I don't think she knew that, "So, you once told me that only your girlfriends were allowed to call you Teddy," I guess she remembered orientation, "I remember when I met you, I called you Teddy and you quickly corrected me. Later, when we got to be closer friends I asked you why and, after much badgering, you told me. Is it safe to say—"

I interrupted her, "that we're together?"

"Yeah," she said dreamily.

"I suppose it would be. Yes, it's safe to say that," I smiled and she smiled back at me.

"You might find his cheesy," she took out her phone, "I'm going to change my status on facebook from single to in a relationship."

"By all means, after you do that, I'll accept the change," she got out her phone and did it. I got mine out and did the same. I looked at it again. I completely forgot about the text I had gotten earlier. Who was it from again? I'm sure it wasn't all that important or the person will have called," I forgot, I got a text when I was at your place last night," I opened my phone and looked up, "check please!" I yelled. I read the text as the check came.

"Listen, Alison. I need to go. Something… happened. Something just happened," I threw some money on the table and ran out of the restaurant.


	3. Part 3

Eleanor was walking the mean streets of Indianapolis that night. I cold breeze had rolled in; it was unseasonably cold of July. In the mid 50's, she had bought a sweater and had thrown it on. It was 10 p.m. and the city was still a buzz with activity. In Broad Ripple, a small village within Indianapolis, she had found herself, sitting alone the last night she was in town. Her friend's crisis was over, and she was with her family at the moment; Eleanor found herself alone in the city. The village was loud, drunkards drifting in the streets, looking for their last vice and a cigarette. She was sitting outside the Monon Coffee Company, finishing her last drink, when she decided to leave the city for her hotel. Her flight was leaving in the morning, and it was time for her to go.

She stood up and hailed a cab. It was expensive, five dollars for a pick up twenty cents for every block travelled, "you seem distressed, miss. What seems to trouble you?" A voice called out to her from behind. She turned around; it was form a young man, sitting on the side of the street, playing guitar. Broad Ripple was full of street performers.

She walked towards him until she was facing him. His face was disheveled and he looked sleep deprived. He had brown hair with a ratty beard to match, "How did you know I was sad?" she asked.

"Well, you just told me," she laughed and he smiled. She sat down next to him, "and usually girls don't wander these streets without someone unless they're drunk and they've lost their friends, or they're sad. I assumed you weren't drunk by the way you walked. What troubles you tonight?"

"You assumed incorrectly by the way," they both laughed.

"Is it a young man that's bothering you?" he asked.

"You are truly wise street man."

He laughed, "Street man, I like that name."

"Yes, it is a boy, you were correct," she responded.

"Did he do you wrong?"

"No, I wish he had."

"Why would you say something stupid like that?"

"It's easy," she stood up, "It would be easier for me to move on."

"I assume he hasn't done anything?" he yelled as she walked away, "I also assume doing nothing was the problem, wasn't it?"

"It was the problem."

As she walked away towards the main drag he started to sing again_, __I've been tried__, __and I've been tested.__I was born tired;__I never got rested__. __Harder than__marble stone,__I'm better off__better off left alone.__Cause I'm not the one.__No not the one.__You wanted it all__, __but I give you,__give you none.__I'm not the one. No, not the one._

_

* * *

_

"I have a serious problem, Simon," Theodore had rushed home, leaving a very confused Alison at the restaurant, and called Simon. Why Simon, he did not know, but he thought that at this point, Simon was the best choice to talk to.

"I would be happy to help, but may I ask, why aren't you talking to Ellie? You two are much tighter than we ever have been," he said.

"Yeah, actually, that's who I wanted to talk to you about," I explained to him the entire situation. Every bit of it, her fears, Alison, the text, everything.

"This is quite a situation you find yourself in, Theodore," he said to me. We, well I, have been talking on the phone for over a hour now and it was starting to get late.

"I know, and the problem is that I don't know what I should do after this. What's the next step?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what should I do?"

"Well it's obvious, you can't do anything."

"Why would you say that?"

"Well, consider this, how often do you see Ellie in the year now that you're far away from her."

"Maybe two times a year at that."

"Right, so not very often at all. How many times do you see Alison in the year?"

I laughed, "Way too many to count."

"Exactly. Theodore, if you are to do anything, you would alienate someone you really do like in a foreign place. I assume that you don't have a massive group of friends, or even if that campus was large enough for you to not see her. What I'm saying is that there is no real way for you to do this with tact and to keep the relationships you've made intact. Furthermore, if you are to do something, you would possibly alienate a large number of your friends, making the situation dire. You can't do anything."

"I can't do anything," I said, exasperatedly.

"I'm sorry Theo," he responded.

"No no, you're right. I just needed somebody to tell me the same thing I was thinking before I was convinced that I was right."

"Well, I'm glad I could affirm things for you. I've got to go, so I'll see you when you come home or something."

"Yeah later, thanks Simon," I grabbed my phone and looked at the text again, _Theo, I'm sorry about what Brittney said. I don't have any fear that you have lingering feelings for me. In fact, I would really like that you did. Theo, I've liked you for the longest time and it hurt when you left. I want to be with you. _

How courageous. I told her that I didn't have any feelings for her, but she still texted me this regardless. Am I really that obvious to read? Oh shit, I checked the time, I really need to get back to Alison before she kills me.

* * *

Eleanor was packing her bags and getting ready to leave when she looked at her phone. Theodore hadn't texted her back yet. She sighed, _I guess he really doesn't feel anything for me. Regardless, I still wouldn't have minded if he would have texted me back. I hate suspense, bu_t, _at this point, there's no doubt in my mind about how he feels. I wonder what I'm going to do until my flight leaves? I didn't think she would recover so quickly. I guess I have another day. What should I do?_

Eleanor grabbed her phone and called her friend Melanie, "Hey Mel, you think I would be able to borrow your car for a day?"

* * *

I got to Alison's apartment at around eleven at night, maybe three hours since I had ran off earlier. I knocked on the door. I could hear her walking to answer it. She unlocked the door and opened it, looking at me with worried eyes.

"Teddy!" she jumped up and hugged me, "Are you alright? What the hell happened?"

"It was a family emergency, and I'm sorry to have left you at the restaurant. Was there enough money?"

"Yeah just enough for the tip and the meal," she let go and sighed, "come on inside and tell me what happened," I didn't plan for this for whatever reason. What did happen? Shit. Shit. Shit. I need to think of something believable. We sat down on her couch and she put my hand in hers, "so what went wrong?"

"Oh, yeah, uh. Eleanor!"

"Something happened to Eleanor! Oh no! What happened?"

"She got terribly ill. Yes… ill. She was at the hospital visiting her friend and she caught something there!"

"Oh no! That's awful! What was it that she caught?"

"They don't know yet. She was in the hospital with her friend for a few days and she has been ill since. Her sisters just informed me of the situation. It's awful, she's been, um, vomiting! Yeah, and she's been running a huge fever and having terrible pains!"

"Oh goodness! I hope she gets better soon! I know how close you two were," She bought it, and I simply couldn't believe it. I was close to falling over, ill, myself.

"Let's hope so indeed. So, what do you want to do tonight?"

"I have a few ideas," she leaned over me, and turned out the light.

* * *

"Ellie, I can't wait for you to get back. This city is a bore without you!"

"Thanks Brittney," Eleanor was on the road when Brittney had called her, "Yeah I miss it there too, and I'll be home tomorrow."

"Good, so what are you doing with your last days of dredging around in Indiana?"

"I'm actually going to visit Theo."

She laughed, "Ooh la la, I guess he was receptive to your outburst of emotion! That's fantastic. I'm so happy for you two."

"Actually," she sighed, "He hasn't sent me anything back yet so I'm going to talk to him in person.

"You cannot be serious!"

"I am!"

"That could be the worst thing for you to do!"

"Why's that?" Eleanor asked.

"Ellie, he hasn't responded for a reason. Going to talk to him could make this whole situation blow up right in your face. He needs space, or whatever."

"You said that you were certain he had feelings for me. I bet he does and he just doesn't have his phone."

"Have you had access to Facebook?" Brittney asked.

"No, why?"

"He could have posted something on it pertaining to not having his phone anymore, let me get on my laptop and check," Brittney put the phone down and she rustled around for a bit and grabbed it again, "Alright it's starting up."

"I hope he did," Eleanor said.

"Alright, I'm checking his statuses. They're all song lyrics, like always. He has the new Scissor Sisters album! Grab that from him," Brittney probed around his Facebook until she got to activity from the previous day. She gasped and started muttering to herself.

"What? What is it Brittney?"

"Uh," she didn't know how she was going to say it. She looked at the page, to make sure she was right, "I'm so sorry Ellie. I'm so sorry."

"About what?" Eleanor asked. Her stomach was churning.

"It says that he's in a relationship with someone…"

"Is it a serious relationship or a fake one?"

"It's serious from what I can tell. She's written on his wall multiple times and she goes to the same school he does. Her name is Alison. I'm so sorry."

_It was true, he always talked about an Alison, _she thought, "Goddammit Brittney!" Eleanor exploded with tears in her eyes, "I've been listen to every piece of shit advice you've been spoon feeding me for the last 48 hours and it's completely ruined my life! Why did I choose to listen to you? It's not like you know anything about guys except for seducing the drunk ones!"

"That was a bit harsh…" Brittney responded.

"I'm talking right now! Do you realize that you've killed mine and his friendship? I can never go back on this!"

"Don't you fucking put the blame on me! He obviously had no feelings for you and you were being completely delusional!"

"You reassured me that he did! You told me to do everything that I did! I'm going to kill you when I get back!"

"Before you hang up the phone, listen for a second. There is still no reason for you to go down there. In fact, there are more reasons for you to not go down there."

"I'm going to listen to myself on this one. You've gotten me into enough of a mess as it is. Besides, I'm maybe ten minutes away from being there," she hung up the phone and put it away. She thought to herself, _How am I going to get away with this now?_

_

* * *

_

I woke up at Alison's place and we had breakfast. It was a little late, but whatever, we didn't have to work again until much later today. After we enjoyed a delicious breakfast, I started to walk back to my place to have a shower before I met up with her again.

As I was walking I remembered the text. I opened the phone and looked at it again. What am I going to do now? I couldn't possibly admit my true feelings for her. Can't I? Yeah I can't, but what am I going to do? She obviously thinks that I feel something for her, and she would be right. I can't do much of anything except break her heart, but I really don't want to do that. I don't want to break a heart I could share. I just don't want to. I put my phone down as I walked into my apartment. I took a warm shower and continued to think, but I couldn't think of any way to do this without breaking her heart.

I got dressed again and I had two texts waiting for me. I opened my phone and the first was from Alison.

"Do you want to go out on the town this afternoon? There's the strawberry festival today and I thought we could check it out."

"Yeah, I'd love to," I responded. I looked at my phone and checked the other text. It was from Eleanor.

"114 Grant street?"

"Lol, that is my address," I tried to play it off like nothing had happened. I heard I knock on my door. It couldn't be! How? I answered the door.

_I'll just pretend like nothing ever happened,_ "Hey!" She grabbed me and hugged me.

I guess she's pretending like nothing happened.

She sat down, _I have an idea, _"Hey, I'm sorry about that text. Melanie had taken my phone when I went to the bathroom, I think, and sent it. My friends are being awfully malicious to you recently."

"Oh," There was no way she was being truthful, "There's no problem. Melanie was always a crazy bitch… I mean, wonderful person!" Maybe she wasn't lying. I guess I never really knew her feelings anyway, and it makes things much more pleasant for me.

She laughed, _he bought it, but that doesn't stop me from doing everything in my power to stop myself from crying, "_ I know you've never liked her."

"Like is a strong word," we both laughed. I feel anxious, like I'm waiting for her to say something to set me free.

She laid down, "What do you want to do today? I have until like eight to be here."

"I'm about to go to the strawberry festival with Alison," I said, smiling a very fake smile.

"Oh yeah, Alison, your friend—"

"Actually," I said, "she my, uh, girlfriend."

She hopped up, "Oh Theo, I'm so happy for you! She's so cute!" _I started to tear up a bit but started to check myself. _She pulled back and looked at me. There were tears in her eyes.

"You're, uh, crying?"

_Oh shit, "_Oh, Allergies," she sneezed, and it seemed fake, "Indiana has the highest pollen count in the country!"

"Oh, okay. I have some medicine if you need some."

"You're so sweet," she backed away, "but no thanks!" _He's either oblivious or just accepting everything._ "So, when are we leaving for the festival?"

We walked into the centre of the town and Alison met us there. She saw us and started waving and looked surprised. She walked over to us, "Who's this, Teddy?"

"Oh, yeah, Alison, this is Eleanor," I said. This is going to be bad. I forgot that I used her as an excuse.

Eleanor reached out her hand and Alison grabbed it; they proceeded to shake hands, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Alison!"

"Wait, Theo," she said as she let go of her hand, "I thought you said that she was dreadfully ill."

"Uh yeah, about that—"

Eleanor interrupted, "Yeah, about that. I was planning on surprising him and I decided that he needed to think that there was no way I could possibly surprise him, so I told him I was sick."

"Oh, I thought you said one of his sisters called you."

"Well, I didn't mean I literally told him."

"Alright, well that's very cleaver," She believed it and I could believe it myself. I looked down at Eleanor with eyes that suggested that I was saying thank you. She nodded.

_Why would he lie to her about something? What was he doing that he needed to make an excuse for? Was it something with my text? _

The day continued on awkwardly. Eleanor was being a completely over the top character. Was she hurt and masking it by being outrageous? I can't tell. I just don't know anymore. We walked around, ate strawberries and chatted about random things, but I couldn't shake the feeling that they both were looking at me the entire time. What was Eleanor really doing at Earlham? I started to doubt myself. Maybe the text did have something to it, but, then again, it probably didn't. She might not have sent the text, or she might have. I still don't know. The clock struck 6 and Alison had to go to work.

"It was so wonderful to meet you, Ellie," she reached out her hand.

"We hug in this family!" Eleanor jumped over to her and lifted her up with her hug.

"Oh goodness," she coughed, "thanks Eleanor."

"You're welcome!"

"Well, I'm off," she leaned up to me and pecked me on the lips, "See you tonight?"

"Sure," she walked away and I looked to Eleanor, "Where do you want to go? We can chill at my place until I need to go to work."

"That's fine," we started to walk in style for a while. After maybe ten minutes, she said, "Theo, why did I have to make up that story about the, what was it, sickness?"

"Oh, yeah, I… you're going to laugh at this, I was trying to figure out what your, uh, text meant, so I just went and called Simon. It was in the middle of a dinner and I finally read your text. It was stupid, but I had to tell her something."

She laughed, "Yeah! You're so ridiculous," _he was going to do something about it… would that have meant breaking up with her?_

I laughed, "Yeah, I know," We walked into my apartment. We sat on the couch and I looked at the time, "Oh I should be heading out soon," I went into the kitchen, "You want a drink?"

"What do you have that isn't alcoholic?" She asked.

"Ellie, think better of me. Only the Kool aid doesn't have alcohol," we both laughed. I grabbed to glasses and sat back down.

"It's like you grow down when you go to college."

I laughed, "yeah." We sat in silence for a bit, looking at everything but each other.

"Theodore?"

"Yeah?"

_I wonder what I should do now, _She was pausing for a while, _I should tell him. I need to know, but I can't. I can't, He's going to turn me down, but I feel like he wasn't truthful about everything. Why would he have made such a fuss about this? I don't know, "_I… how long have you two been dating?"

"Not long."

"Oh."

"Yeah—"

"So, I think I need to go. I need to get a good night's sleep tonight."

"Alright, yeah," I got up and we hugged.

"I'll see you, well, probably forever, Theo."

We both laughed and let go of each other, "It will probably be a while, but yeah."

"So well, cool. Bye!" she walked out the door.

I can't believe that she didn't actually feel anything for me. I could have swore that text was real.

_I guess he never did feel anything for me. _

I was just deluding myself.

_I must have been crazy._

Where do I go from here?

_Things will never be the same._

I guess all I can do…

_Is move on._

_

* * *

_

"A truly tragic tale, Brittney."

"It really was," Brittney and Alvin had been talking for 6 hours as Brittney told him the entire story of Eleanor and Theodore, "They both weren't aware about how the other felt the entire time."

"How did you know all of this?"

It was the Winter of their sophomore year and the two were reunited for the month in southern California, "After the whole thing happened, Ellie came back to me and told me what had happened. I felt really awful about the whole situation because I feel like I had caused it. I kinda did if you were paying attention. I went and talked to people, Adam, which is Theo's roommate, Simon, and Jeanette. Jeanette knew nothing about the whole situation until I told her, but the other two were able to tell me a lot. I put all the pieces together, and then I asked Theodore to fill everything else in."

"But why? Why did you want to get all this information together?"

"I wanted it for… archival reasons." She said as she drank her coffee.

"Archival reasons? You wanted us to know what happened."

"Not really, I just wanted to know what happened."

Alvin paused and had a drink, "So what are Theodore and Eleanor doing now? Do they both know the other person's side of the story?"

"They don't."

"Why haven't you told them?"

"They're happy, why ruin it?"

"Wait, are they together now?"

"What? You don't know?"

"They got together?" He said with fervor in his voice.

"Do you not talk to Theo?" She laughed as she said.

"He got rid of his facebook. It says Ellie is in a relationship in hers. Is it with Theo?"

"Hmm."

"What?"

She smiled and stood up, "I wonder, how long I can torture you with this."

"This isn't fair! You tell me this entire story, and now you won't tell me if he got the girl?"

"You could call him," Brittney walked away laughing.

_That's right, _he thought, _I can call him! _Alvin broke out his phone and put in his number. It rang once. Twice, _Come on, Pick up! _

"Alvin? What an odd surprise, considering you're calling me at three in the morning."

"Oh yeah, not the same time zone."

"Being in New York will do that," I thought.

"So, I have a question."

"What is it?"

"Are you with Ellie right now?"

"What?"

"I knew it! You totally aren't."

"You didn't know?"

"Yeah sorry. I've got to go, later."

He hung up before I could answer anything, "Who was that?"

"It was Alvin. Wow that was random."

"Yeah, he hasn't talked to you in a while, right?"

"Not since we relocated here. I don't really see my family that often now that we go to NYU."

"That's odd, what did he want?"

"He wanted to know if I was with someone right now," The woman walked into the room and hugged him from behind.

"He didn't know?" she asked.

"Yeah. He hasn't been able to keep up with my life since I got rid of my Facebook."

"Oh well, did you tell him?"

"Not really, he just hung up before I had a chance to tell him anything."

"I guess he doesn't know who I am."

"I guess not–"

I was interrupted by a phone call, "I'll get it," she said.

"Alright. I'm going to go to bed. I have work early in the morning," I said as I went upstairs, "Wait, is the phone for me?"

"It wasn't. I'll be up there in a bit Teddy. Goodnight!"

"I'll see you upstairs. Goodnight!"

* * *

**It feels good to finish a story for the first time in forever. I was a little excited to finish it, so I didn't put as much detail into it was I wanted to. In the end, I finished it and I feel a sense of relief. Maybe a sequel if there is demand for it. **


End file.
